Discussion PSU recommendations and power supply discussion thread - Tom's hardware

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Just a quick question, didnt feel like making an entire thread.

Do you think an M12ii 520 EVO (2-3yo) can handle a 5600xt+i5 7500?
Just an update on this. I managed to snag a liquid cooled GTX1080 for $250, and despite the higher TDP, the M12ii handles it no problems. Also that's using the cable from my Corsair HXi (since i dont need 4 8 pins), so if you jam the cable into the socket on the PSU hard enough, it can work, the pinout is the same.
 
Seems I recall you having issues with magic smoke and all that at some point in the past, from doing something similar. Putting stuff where it doesn't belong, especially if you have to force it, is never a good idea whether the pinouts are the same or not.
No, that was from the molex->sata adapter being wired incorrectly at the factory, nothing I did wrong. Though you could argue me using that adapter was wrong to begin with.

The pinout is the same (trust me I checked it like 4x with a multimeter) and the cable is from my 750w so they are definitely thick enough for this 520w. I have ran it with several GPUs and it hasn't failed me, so its fine.

If the wire is thick enough and the pinout is the same, I don't really know how it could cause issues.

In this case I COULDN'T get the proper cable. I asked SeaSonic and they linked me to where I could buy it, but it was not in stock. I thought about cablemod, but they wanted like $40 or something for the cable, half of which was shipping. How does it cost that much to ship a cable? Only ones I found was from China and had like 3 month delivery. This cable is probably a safer bet than some cheap Chinese cable from ebay that may or may not be made up to the specifications as the original one from Seasonic.
 
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Segotep 600W Power Supply, Gaming - Newegg.com
I put in an order for one of these today. The cables are pretty ugly, but it seems very good for the money. 5 year warranty, 80+ gold, 600w, and all protections I think you would expect.
I can't find any real reviews but from what this thread says, "it is a solid unit." and it "uses a LLC resonant converter design with DC-DC"

All of that for $50, what could go wrong. (Famous last words).
 
Segotep has about ONE halfway decent power supply that I know of, and I can't say for sure if that one is it or not because I can't find my bookmarked link to that unit. What I WOULD say though, is that there are plenty of units out there with modern designs, which is about the only thing in that thread being claimed, that perform like crap.

Being owned by Colorful isn't specifically something I'd brag about. They used to be an "ok" manufacturer, back in the day when there weren't very many choices out there, but these days they are more like a 3rd world manufacturer, as in they cater to markets in 3rd world countries primarily and also many non-western markets.
 
i expect it to be sold out in a couple days at this rate, but newegg has a couple segotep units going for very cheap

from the x50 watt i unfortunately don't know what it is, but the 500/600w versions (both modular and non-modular) are Fortech made units, similar to the Enermax Platimax DF with worse capacitors.

https://www.newegg.com/segotep-gp-series-600w-non-modular/p/1HU-00Z0-00008

unknown.png
(non-modular version)

003634982.png

(modular version)

Enermax-Platimax-DF-600-25-s.png

(Enermax Platimax DF)

I'd say for it's current price it's a very good choice, but again, stock is still limited with current production
The Enermax performed well in this review, but who knows if that transfers to the Segotep.
Enermax Platimax DF 600W Power Supply – JonnyGURU.com

Given the other choices at a similar price, this one doesn't seem too bad.
https://ibb.co/Z8dmCd0

The EVGA BA had my attention until I saw the 30c rating.
The Apevia is an example of one of those modern topology PSUs that is crap. I had one for a bit and it handled my 1080+3600 no problem, but I returned it since Cheng 85c main cap in PSU that I want to last is a no from me.
The Gigashyte, both silverstones, and the Rosewill are group reg given the 12v amperages.
Gigabyte's PSU division will not be getting my money for awhile after seeing this, even if it is a different model:
Gigabyte GP-P750GM 750 W Review - With an Explosive Attitude | TechPowerUp
And the rest I didn't even bother considering.
 
Being owned by Colorful isn't specifically something I'd brag about. They used to be an "ok" manufacturer, back in the day when there weren't very many choices out there, but these days they are more like a 3rd world manufacturer, as in they cater to markets in 3rd world countries primarily and also many non-western markets.
A lot of companies cater towards Asia and China more specifically. Colorful has a lot of good items, granted, brand of the PSU is nearly irrelevant, so.
 
It's probably not a dumpster fire, but it's also probably not all that great. Most likely, it's rather mediocre, as most of Segotep stuff is. You could probably do a lot worse for that price but I have to say, and we've not only said this before but we've clearly heard many much more knowledgeable reviewers and engineers say it as well, just because two units share the same general platform doesn't mean they are anything alike when it comes to the actual implementation and performance so keep that in mind. One unit using a particular platform might last ten years and have great voltage regulation and ripple readings at 40°C while another with the same platform but different component selection might be MUCH different, and characteristically dissimilar. Even just a poor choice of fan and poor fan profile, or too aggressive of a fan profile, could make moderate differences. That's without factoring in the selection of caps, mosfets, etc.
 
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Feb 16, 2020
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350w is plenty for that build but it's hard to say anything about the quality because there don't seem to be any reviews of that unit.

Why are you looking at SFX power supplies when that case supports standard ATX PSUs?

My reason using SFX Psu is to give more room for airflow and neat cables management, If i using ATX psu like seasonic focus 550w is overkill right?, corsair is over priced..especially in my country, and lack of others brand to choose. The 450w ATX that i can find is like corsair CV450, evga 450BT, coolermaster MWE450 and several brand like armageddon, etc.
 
Dec 6, 2020
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Hello guys!

I would be grateful if you could provide me some advice on my issue.

Two days ago, I bought this PC:

Gaming PC Erazer Engineer P10
  • Intel Core i7-10700F octa-core processor with 2.9 to 4.8 GHz
  • 16 GB DDR4-2666 main memory, 2 TB HDD and 1 TB SSD with PCIe connection
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER with 8 GB GDDR6 graphics memory (HDMI, Displayport, DVI)
  • 802.11ax WLAN, 1000 Mbps LAN, 4x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0
  • Cooler Master Liquid Lite 120 - water cooling
  • Windows 10 Home, 64-bit (pre-installed)
Only yesterday, while I was playing a game, the PC suddenly shut down and never started again.
When I press the power on button, nothing happens.I am pretty sure that the psu is damaged, only after one day of use, which makes me really upset.

The psu is this one:
Inwin A65 80PLUS - 650W 230V EU ATX12V V2.4
AC Input 200 - 240Vac., 50-60Hz
Fan 120mm Silent Fan
20+4 Pin
Motherboard 1
8 (4+4) Pin CPU 2
8 (6+2) Pin PCI-E 2
4 Pin Peripheral 3
SATA 6
Floppy 1


In many forums I read some really bad reviews about it and because I don't want to mess with the customer service or buy this garbage again, I am thinking to replace it by myself.
Could you please suggest me a better psu that is compatible with my system?

What do you think about the Seasonic Focus GX 650W?
 
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Vic 40

Titan
Ambassador
Hello guys!

I would be grateful if you could provide me some advice on my issue.

Two days ago, I bought this PC:

Gaming PC Erazer Engineer P10
  • Intel Core i7-10700F octa-core processor with 2.9 to 4.8 GHz
  • 16 GB DDR4-2666 main memory, 2 TB HDD and 1 TB SSD with PCIe connection
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER with 8 GB GDDR6 graphics memory (HDMI, Displayport, DVI)
  • 802.11ax WLAN, 1000 Mbps LAN, 4x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0
  • Cooler Master Liquid Lite 120 - water cooling
  • Windows 10 Home, 64-bit (pre-installed)
Only yesterday, while I was playing a game, the PC suddenly shut down and never started again.
When I press the power on button, nothing happens.I am pretty sure that the psu is damaged, only after one day of use, which makes me really upset.

The psu is this one:
Inwin A65 80PLUS - 650W 230V EU ATX12V V2.4
AC Input 200 - 240Vac., 50-60Hz
Fan 120mm Silent Fan
20+4 Pin
Motherboard 1
8 (4+4) Pin CPU 2
8 (6+2) Pin PCI-E 2
4 Pin Peripheral 3
SATA 6
Floppy 1


In many forums I read some really bad reviews about it and because I don't want to mess with the customer service or buy this garbage again, I am thinking to replace it by myself.
Could you please suggest me a better psu that is compatible with my system?

What do you think about the Seasonic Focus GX 650W?
Better of asking here,

https://forums.tomshardware.com/forums/power-supplies.75/post-thread

And welcome btw. 😊
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
So that's what Hard did with their equipment? Nice. Glad to see it's still being used and someone is still testing with it.

It's also nice to see a risk being taken. We need to see real reviews of those cheaper units people might actually try buying. I hope this trend continues.
 
I would like to see reviews of some cheap 80+ gold and 80+ bronze units I see and am curious about it.

Things like
Segotep GP 80+ Gold
Apevia prestige 80+ Gold
Aresgame AGV 80+ Bronze
Montech gamma ii 80+ Gold
Montech Century 80+ Gold
 
I don't care what Jon says, I wouldn't buy ANY Apevia power supply considering how abysmally bad they've traditionally been. I don't care if Delta built it for them, much less Andyson. Andyson has some real craptastic platforms out there in the past. Jon says that one is "not too bad" but "not too bad" is pretty damn subjective sometimes. It might not be horrible, but I'd bet it's nothing you'd want in there with any valuable hardware either.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?16554-Apevia-Prestige-Power-800w-80-Gold-PSU
 
I fully agree. There is a reason that Apevia prestige got returned and not sold in a PC.

Would it have lasted awhile? Probably a couple years at least. IIRC that unit is used in a lot of prebuilt computers and iirc at least one of the SI one LTTs secret shopper this year was using this PSU. It has to at least last the warranty period for these computers.

And credit where credit is due, that Apevia handled the Ryzen 5 3600 + GTX 1080 machine for the week I owned it until the replacement arrived.

But when I saw just how undersized the PCB was and the main caps were the same Cheng branded 85C garbage I found in my $19 EVGA N1 400w PSU, It got boxed back up and returned. Not even worth the $50 I paid.

It got replaced by an EVGA BR500 which isn't great, I still consider much more trustworthy.
 
I tore down the Segotep and the main complaint I had was the same as the Apevia, and that was capacitor quality, however they were not near as bad. They were still cheaper brands, but they were all 105c that I saw and the PSU looks beefy enough that it probably can do everything it says on the label, which I don't know if I would trust the Apevia to do.

Also 2xEPS connectors and 4x PCIe connectors on a $50 PSU is pretty nice, though honestly I would rather have some better quality caps and black cables with less focus on amount of cables.
 
Seems like an "ok" unit. Probably IS better than the Apevia, but, that really isn't saying that much if we're being honest, in all probability. Again, something I'd use for a minor mainstream quick flip type system or in a REAL pinch, but not something I'd ever SEEK out, even if the price were attractive.
 
I guess this shouldn't probably come as a surprise to ANYBODY who has paid any attention for the last five years. The only surprise actually is that they bothered to invest in and release this unit given the historically poor performance of the other lower capacity N1 models. Apparently, there's a pretty good market for fooling unsuspecting consumers who have learned to trust the EVGA name, but who now should learn that when it comes to their power supplies they can't be trusted as casually as they can be when it comes to graphics cards OR most of their older Super Flower based PSU models. I'm not saying all their PSUs now are junk, but ..................................they sure aren't mostly good.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/evga-650w-n1-power-supply-review/6
 
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Ok, sometimes I'd like to slap Aris for some of the things he says in articles and in his videos. No doubt he's a really intelligent guy, on another level really, but those are exactly the sort of people, exceptionally smart people who often lack common sense in a lot of cases, but sometimes the things that come out of his mouth just simply make me want to cringe or laugh.

I am personally very skeptical of warranties past the 3–5 year mark. Think about it: You buy a new car, and in the majority of cases, the warranty period ranges from three to five years. Yet with a power supply, you suddenly have a warranty of 10 years, which looks awry, at least to me.

Nobody with any common sense would say this, because they'd understand that a power supply has VERY FEW parts to have to worry about suffering a premature failure as compared to a vehicle which has THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of parts on it when you consider the full body with it's control system and electronics, the power and drive trains with their full control systems and electronics and all the mechanical moving parts throughout the powertrain, drivetrain, brake system, expansive body systems, and the continuous exposure of ALL of those systems to harsh, rigorous environmental factors like heat, cold, water, salt, oil, fuels and so on.

A power supply in a PC doesn't ever have to worry about being exposed to, or withstanding any sort of conditions like that so why would they be compared against each other?

What would make a person think that a power supply should have a similar warranty structure as an item that has all those things going against it from the start to worry about. By comparison, a PC power supply has VERY DAMN FEW things to worry or be concerned about, so that there is no way you could ever possibly have the same concerns about longevity with a power supply as what you have with a vehicle, in order to justify that they ought to have the same warranty considerations.

Car manufacturers have an average of 5 year warranties because they know that is the age at which many of the components in those systems are simply going to begin failing at due to age and use. If power supply manufacturers are choosing components that they know, because of research and development testing, will last 7 to 10 years, then why would it be unwise to warranty those components for that long? It wouldn't, and that's why it's a nonsense statement from an otherwise no-nonsense engineer and respected reviewer.

As far as the Chieftec unit itself, I couldn't care less if Seasonic themselves were building the units for them (Or Super Flower. Or CWT. Or Delta. Or whoever). Unless that was the case, and they had some terrific sale where the units were half off, it would still be nothing I'd ever purchase because I'd know that I could go buy units from those manufacturers or from other brands who use them and are well known, trusted, and have far more ability to sell with lower margins than any lesser volume label, and get the same platform for less money.

Good to know though in case somebody DOES happen to have one of those units, we can know that it isn't complete trash right off the bat like most of their units are. And I say "most" because this is not the only model or series that Chieftec has ever sold that was halfway decent, but even so, they are few and there have a believe been problems with longevity even on the one or two decent platforms they've sold in the past that weren't just fire hazards. Maybe this series is better than previously, but the fact that they have cheap secondary Teapo caps, a cheap noisy fan that can only do Standard++ noise rating, loose regulation, a 2 year only warranty and the other laundry list of problems Aris noted, is more than enough for me to never recommend these units to anybody regardless of whether it's a DC-DC unit or not.

This is another of those newer platform models that I'd recommend people avoid out of an abundance of caution.